If you’re looking for a sourdough bread recipe that is easy to follow AND only requires 5 ingredients, you’ve come to the right place! I’m going to show you how to make an artisan sourdough bread at home that is absolute perfection. Once you have your sourdough starter (which you can easily make yourself), you can make sourdough bread that is perfect for breakfast, as a sandwich, or served with soup and pasta!
Why this sourdough bread recipe is the best!
I know it’s tempting to just go to the store and buy a sourdough loaf, but where’s the fun in that? This sourdough bread recipe is not only easy to follow, but it also only requires FIVE ingredients. And trust me when I say this sourdough bread recipe is worth the effort – it’s delicious!
It might be intimidating to make your own bread at home, but I assure you, once you make your own batch ONCE, you’ll never look back.
This artisan sourdough bread is:
- Crispy
- Chewy
- Slightly sour
- Perfect for any meal of the day
Now that you know why this sourdough bread recipe is the best, follow along to learn how to make this artisan sourdough bread. If you do better with video instructions, watch my TikTok down below!
Kitchen equipment needed:
To make this sourdough bread with kosher salt, you will need a:
- Large bowl
- Whisk
- Kitchen towel
- Bread basket
- Cast iron skillet
- Wire rack
Note: Check out the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and instructions to make this loaf of sourdough bread.
Baking tips:
When making this easy sourdough bread, I came up with the best hacks to bake a crisp, chewy artisan bread.
- Make your own sourdough starter. If you don’t have a sourdough starter on hand, no problem! You can easily make your own in advance. I recommend this recipe from Feasting At Home a few days before you plan to make this bread to have it ready to go! You can also buy your own sourdough starter from King Arthur Baking Company.
- Add herbs! This sourdough bread recipe is delicious as is, but if you want to switch it up, add some herbs. I love adding rosemary or thyme to my sourdough bread.
- Love a good sandwich? Slice your sourdough bread into pieces that are about ½-inch to ¾ -inch thick. This will make slicing the bread for sandwiches a breeze! Make my popular fall turkey sandwich, or top the sourdough with an herby egg salad.
- Serve it with some whipped butter. There’s nothing better than a piece of crispy toast with creamy butter spread over the top. The only thing you have to decide is if you want salty or sweet! Lucky for you- I have a few recipes for both. For something sweet, go for the whipped honey brown butter. Something salty? Try the pecorino calabrian chili butter! For sweet AND salty, nothing goes tastes better than PB&J whipped brown butter.
I hope you enjoy this homemade sourdough bread! If you love this recipe and want to learn how to make other fun recipes, follow me on TikTok and save some of my cooking videos.
Check out these other baked recipes!
- Brown Butter Soda Bread
- Rustic No-Knead Yogurt Bread
- Cheesy Artichoke Garlic Bread
- Sun-Dried Tomato Garlic Bread
- Braided Brioche
How To Make Artisan Sourdough Bread At Home
Equipment
- Large Bowl
- Whisk
- Kitchen towel
- Bread basket
- Cast iron skillet
- Wire rack
Ingredients
- 400 g room temp water
- 100 g sourdough starter
- 400 g bread flour also known as high gluten flour
- 100 g whole wheat flour
- 14 g kosher salt
Instructions
- Before beginning, make sure your starter is ready to go. Place a small amount of starter into a cup of cold water. If the starter floats, you know the starter is ready to be used for bread!
- In a large bowl, add water and starter. Whisk until starter is dissolved into the water.
- Add in both flours and mix with until completely combined.
- Cover and let rest 30 minutes.
- Next, sprinkle salt over the top of the dough. Mix in salt with hands until completely combined. You want to be thorough with this step so that you don’t end up with pockets of salt in your bread. Let rest, covered, 1 hour.
- Next begin the series of folds. Fold dough over itself, on all four sides. *see video
- Cover and let rest 1 hour.
- After 1 hour, fold dough over itself again, on all four sides. *see video
- Cover and let rest 1 hour.
- After the 1 hour, fold dough over itself again, on all four sides. *see video
- Cover and let the dough rest for another 1-3 hours depending on how warm/cold your house is. You are looking for the dough to be about doubled in size, and to appear jiggly and fluffy when you gently shake the bowl of dough.
- Once the dough is done rising, carefully transfer dough to a floured surface.
- Roughly shape dough into a round shape by using cupped hands. *see video
- Lightly flour the top of the dough and cover with a kitchen towel. Let rest 30 minutes.
- Uncover dough. Add a touch a more flour to the top of the dough and flip dough over onto that floured side. *see video
- Shape dough by folding the side of the dough closest to you up, and then each side of the dough in towards each other. Next, fold the farthest side of the dough in towards yourself. Then, using the side closest to you, flip the dough all the way over so that what was once the bottom of the dough is now the top. *see video
- Using cupped hands, shape the dough into a tight uniform ball. *see video
- Transfer the loaf to a floured (I used semolina here, but flour also works!) bread basket by flipping it over so the smooth, shaped side of the loaf is face down in the basket. Pinch and pull on all sides of the loaf to “sow” the top. *see video
- Cover with a kitchen towel and refrigerate until the next morning.
- The next morning, with the cast iron you will be using inside the oven, preheat your oven to 500ºF.
- Once preheated, remove the loaf from the fridge and cast iron from the oven. Flip dough out onto the hot cast iron. Score loaf as desired. *see video
- Cover with cast iron lid and place back into the oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Carefully remove lid from cast iron and return bread to the oven to finish browning and cooking. This next baking step will take about 10-15 minutes depending on how brown you like it.
- Remove bread from oven and carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- Cool completely before slicing into the bread. Enjoy!
